📌 Future Concepts Explored [Part 1] - Human Genetic Modification, Programmatically Engineered Organisms, and the Future of Human Evolution

Human Genetic Modification is the process of changing the genetic structure of Human DNA, in order to cause an alteration in the way that the Human body biologically develops, and acts when grown. Currently, Genetic modification of organisms is completed by taking existing cells, splicing sections of DNA from another organism, and inserting them into the cell. These cells are then used to grow a new organism that combines the original DNA with the inserted DNA.
Programmatically Engineered Organisms are theoretically created by using a genetic Programming language to define the biological characteristics of an organism, which is compiled into a molecular DNA sequence, and assembled into a cell by nanoscale engineering. This process would allow any organism to be created and cloned. By taking the Human genetic code as a base for bioprogrammers to begin with, the Human Genetic code could be modified, and entirely new variations of Humans could be created.

The potential benefits of Human Genetic modification would be vast.
Genetically inherited diseases could be eradicated, greatly increasing the human lifespan. Muscle fibres and bone structure could be strengthened to have a higher force output, and be more resistant to damage. Neuron density, and neuroplasticity could be increased, allowing for higher order thought, improved general intelligence, more reliable memory, and higher capacity working memory.

New and improved organs or body parts could be designed and added to serve new functions, and would expand the capabilities of Humans.
These might include additional arms, legs, and eyes, application specific additional brain segments, backup hearts, lungs with a higher alveolar density to allow for more efficient breathing, or skin with the ability to absorb oxygen and discharge carbon dioxide rapidly enough to remove the need for breathing. Cell telomeres could be modified to significantly slow the process of physical aging, allowing for extended human lifespans.

Parents of new children would benefit greatly from the development of Human Genetic Modification.
A couple wishing to have a child would take DNA samples from both parents, synthesize them programmatically, before modifying them to enhance the capabilities of their children. People would be able to create genetically modified clones of themselves, and control their new body as an avatar, preventing them from being susceptible to damaging their original body. Their original body could be safely protected, and they would use an avatar to interact with the outside world. Human Avatars would be more intelligent, stronger, faster, and capable than their original unmodified bodies. They would be made so that the body does not have its own consciousness, and instead is directly controlled by another intelligence. The Avatar would not be sentient, and would not be able to function without being controlled. This technology would benefit all humans, and would radically extend the Human lifespan by avoiding direct exposure to the dangers of life.

Rapid Molecularly fabricated cloning could come to replace natural sexual reproduction.
This would substantially increase the reproductive rate of Humanity, by reducing the standard biological gestation period. The burden of child bearing would be removed, allowing for increased safety of developing children, removing the physical disadvantages of pregnancy, and eliminating the pain of child birth. New children could be born that are the genetic product of more than 2 people, allowing 3 or more people to be the genetic parents of a child. This would change the structure of families, and make the traditional nuclear family merely an option among many.

However beneficial this technology might seem, there are serious dangers if it is used irresponsibly.
Just as easily as new human improvements could be engineered, a rogue actor could engineer a powerful, antibiotic resistant virus, which could be unleashed as a deadly biological weapon. Clones could be created with genetic mutations that cause them to be non-viable, and die shortly after they are created, causing pain and suffering of a sentient being. Aggressive invasive species could be designed and released, that attack humans, and reproduce rapidly.

The issue of clone sovereignty, and rights will certainly come into question.

• Do clones have the same legal rights as naturally born humans?
• How different or modified does a clone have to be before it is no longer considered Human?
• Will people discriminate against clones, and see them as just a copy of their original, to be owned and controlled by their creator? Or will people grant them the same respect and dignity of naturally born Humans?
• Under what circumstances do the creators of a clone have the right to kill them? If they are non viable and suffering? If they are unneeded? If they cannot afford to provide for them?
• If a clone is created, then dies from a genetic defect, is the creator guilty of murder? Manslaughter?

These are all important questions that we must answer as a species.
The issue of defining our relationships with genetically engineered organisms and clones has been put off to the future for many years. Laws preventing research into Human cloning and genetic modification will not be able to stop it forever. They will just push the research underground, and cause it to be pioneered in secret by nefarious actors, and profit seeking clandestine corporations who will avoid the law. We are better off if we tackle these issues head on, and transparently, safely, and openly conduct the research and development of Genetic Engineering technology, rather than allow it to be utilised by insidious agents.

All of Humanity undertakes a great risk by deciding to use genetic engineering.
We risk that we may create a species of modified human, or other organism that will evolutionarily outcompete us, out reproduce us, physically defeat us, and cause our extinction. Ultimately, by improving ourselves, we will inadvertently cause these genetically modified humans to surpass naturally born humans, and eventually lead to a new phase of human evolution.

Human evolution will not take place on the scale of millions of years, it will take place on the scale of decades.
Continual advancements in the genetic composition of newly created organisms will cause a new Cambrian Explosion in the biodiversity of Earth. There could be hundreds of different branches of Humans, each with different genetic modifications. Will they still be able to naturally reproduce with each other, or will they become different species entirely? There is no way to know for sure. If Human genetic modification becomes mainstream, naturally born Humans will surely be outcompeted by the physically, and cognitively more advanced modified Humans, and they will become another common ancestor in the tree of the evolutionary history of Humanity. Is the replacement of Humanity by genetically modified Humans or another Genetically Engineered Organism made by humans necessarily a bad thing? Or is it just the next step in our evolution? It would simply be our children superseding us, and continuing the advancements evolution has been making for billions of years. Only now, we would be in control of it.

The dangers of malicious usage of Genetic Engineering are devastating, and must be prevented.
The creation of bioweapons, or a new vicious species that aggressively attacks humanity, rather than naturally outcompeting us would represent a direct existential threat to Humanity. This could be mitigated by requiring that all genetically created species be tested before being able to be produced by mainstream cloning providers. Each new organism could be developed, then an individual must be tested under controlled conditions until it is proven to be safe, before it could be set free. Once released into the ecosystem, a newly engineered organism would be observed over time. If no further complications arise, then additional individuals could be produced, enabling reproduction of the new species. A legal framework for the testing and verification of the viability and safety of new species would need to be established, and genetic programming languages would need to be built with a secure compliance mechanism to prevent the creation of dangerous untested organisms.

Over time, humans could be modified in ways that have profound impacts on the way that they live.
New biological genders could be created, and it could be possible to create a hybrid between the male and female, enabling the viable use of both reproductive systems. Humanity could become single gendered, allowing all individuals to reproduce with any other. The cultural impacts of new genders, or the dissolution of genders would be profound. The integrity of sporting institutions would come under pressure, as players would not be genetically equal. Naturally born humans may simply be unable to compete with enhanced humans, and the arms race to have the most athletically skilled humans would drive innovation to improve genetic engineering technology. Humans could be engineered to be able to see a wider range of the EM spectrum, allowing them to see a heavily increased flow of visual information. The brain would interpret this information in new ways, and may result in the brain generating new colours to distinguish between newly visible frequencies of radiation.

The potential new habitats for genetically modified humans could be limitless.
Different environments would favour different types of modifications, and the Human race would become infinitely adaptable to the conditions of newly colonised planets, or even the vacuum of space itself. Humans could be modified with a reduced bone density, and wings to be able to fly, and could be engineered to be able to breathe underwater with gills.

The impact of Genetic modification would not be confined to Humans alone.
We could take the genetic sequence of other animals on Earth and genetically modify them to be much more intelligent than their natural counterparts, allowing multiple newly sentient species to inhabit Earth. Would a cat with the intelligence of a human be considered legally equal to a Human, and protected by human rights? Or would we have to radically expand the protections of life, liberty, security of person and property to include all sentient life? How would we define sentience? Would genetically engineered organisms join Human civilisation, or would they form their own separate civilisation parallel to our own? We will not know these answers until we are successful in enhancing organisms to have human level intelligence.

Over the long term, natural Humans would almost certainly be outcompeted by Genetically engineered organisms.
They will be stronger, faster, more agile, more intelligent, more adaptable, more perceptive, and better able to reproduce. But we should not see this as a defeat. As long as the augmented humans or organisms allow natural humans a fair opportunity to compete, and are not aggressive, this will be a gradual natural replacement of Humanity, and a rebirth into a newly empowered, genetically dynamic culture of superhumans. We will be left better equipped to deal with the potential aggression of extra-terrestrial civilisations, better able to colonise space by adapting our physiology to new environments, and better able to develop as a species to face new challenges, and achieve new heights of accomplishment. The Humans of 500 years from now may be completely unrecognisable to the humans of today, whereas barely anything has changed from 500 years ago to the present in the physical appearance, and capabilities of Humans. Only our technology has improved in the last 500 years, the humans using it have not. Imagine what we could accomplish if we could evolve ourselves into whatever we could design, and improve upon ourselves as rapidly as we update software.

Humanity is capable of responsibly using Genetic Engineering Technology.
As long as we have a legal framework in place to prevent the production of severely damaging organisms, or malfunctioned non-viable organisms, and we expand human rights to treat all sentient beings with the same dignity, respect, and sovereignty as natural humans are afforded today, then Humanity would be greatly benefitted by the ability to clone new humans, to modify the genetic composition of those humans, and to allow them to be taken on as children.

In the process of enhancing ourselves, we will be left with the task of truly defining ourselves.

• What are the boundaries of what is considered human?
• What new variations of people would emerge as being culturally dominant?
• How would society react to the very real prospect of people being fundamentally genetically unequal?
• How will the parallel cultures of human modification variations, who literally see the world through different eyes, hear through different ears, and speak with different mechanisms interact and communicate?

Only time will tell, and only one thing is for sure.

The human race will never be the same again once we open this bottle.
It’s time we stop avoiding the issue, or claiming that it is unethical to research into the technology required to clone or modify humans. It is not inherently unethical, the only part of it that would be unethical is how people might discriminate against newly created organisms, or cause them unnecessary suffering if there are errors in their creation. But it does not have to be that way. We could have a future where there is not only one human race, but thousands of them all living in harmony, competing at an individual level, just the same as we do today.

• What would you like to see genetically engineered into the Human race?

• Would you modify your children to enable this advancement?

• If the entire world were genetically enhanced, it would become a disadvantage to have your children unaugmented. Would you want your children to be born into the world being genetically less capable than their peers?

• Would you want to create clones of yourself? And would you treat them as equals?

• If it became possible to actively edit your own genetic makeup, and cause your body to modify itself while you were still living, would you use this technology?

• What would you want to enhance or change?

The first thing that Humanity would need in order to begin answering these questions, is to change its perspective.
However augmented humans are created, and whatever they are capable of, they are not external threats. They are our children. Are we ready to live in the world our genetically empowered children make? Even if we are not, we should still give them the chance, even if it means that natural humans become a part of human history.
The future of our evolution will lie squarely in the palm of our hands. Are we ready to grasp it?

This series of articles aims to explain, elaborate on, and explore the potential advances of technology that are likely to occur in the long term future. I will discuss the potential challenges that various technologies may cause, and how I believe that they should best be solved. I will speculate on the impacts and benefits that the technologies will cause, and how they will all come together to shape the future of Humanity. I will discuss the implications that they might have on the Human condition, the survival and empowerment of our species, and how these technologies will fundamentally change what it means to be human. This is an ongoing multi-part series.

By Harrison Mclean [dahaz159] 4/8/16
#technology #futurology #biotechnology #science #steemit